Is there a massive reserve of oil in the River Severn of which I am unaware? Has the weir been secretly turned into some massive hydro-electric generator? Have we won the Lottery?

Something must have happened, because apparently in Shrewsbury we have money to burn.

Take the 'pedestrian refuge'. I've ranted about it before, but it's worth mentioning again. It will be pulled up in November at a cost of £5,000 - just two years after it was installed at a cost of £19,000.

So, £24,000 for something anyone with half an eye and quarter of a brain could have told the council was a bad, bad idea.

And now the row over the future of the Square. This will be decided by a public inquiry because the opposing sides have failed to reach a compromise. There is one thing they do agree on, however - the inquiry will be a complete waste of public money.

The owners of Princess House want to bring forward the frontage on shops which are currently set back from the Square. Shrewsbury Town Council won't back the scheme because they fear an end to Shrewsbury's 'cafe culture'.

And so the squabbling sides both agree an inquiry is the only way forward. The would-be developers say it will be a 'futile waste of public money'.

Town council leader Peter Nutting admits public money will be 'wasted'. He says it's a 'shame'. Shame? It's a downright scandal.

How much are we talking? The project manager for the scheme says tens of thousands of pounds.

The Square is of huge importance to Shrewsbury. It is its historic heart and quite rightly its future should be carefully considered. But how can something which everybody agrees is a waste of cash be the right way forward? How can it be that people who are paid significant sums of money - be that from the public or private purse - can not sort this out without a public airing of dirty laundry.

More crucially, how can something that is so important to a whole town and the people in it have got this far without the people of that town having their say?

This is not the fault of the owners or the town council. This is a flaw in the planning system as a whole. Something of this importance should be debated in public from the get-go. 'Public consultation' is all well and good, but a notice in the newspaper and a tiny sign on a few lamp posts is not the way to engage the public.

I hope something can be sorted out without the need of my money - YOUR money - being wasted without my say-so. My hopes are low. Councillor Nutting is quite clear the council will not alter its position.

It might be time for the council to take the mayoral chain and stick it in an envelope to Cash for Gold. Or maybe we could put Slinky on eBay?

Maybe we don't need to. Apparently in Shrewsbury, money is no object.